Garment construction



Ap'ril 9, 1946.

H. L. srl-:EGAL 2,398,258

` GARMENT CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 12, 1945 Patented Apr. 9, 1946 UNITEDSTATE VdrunnEN'rACONSTRUCTTonv Herbert Segal; Richmond, Ya. IApplication January i2, 1945, serial No.` 5725442 i fociaims.,(cnaf-115) This invention relates to wearing apparel and moreparticularly to body garments such as shirts Y normal waist measure,- oronthinner men, such a shirt has excessive fullnessY through the body.Among military men, for example, Where special attention is given toneatness of uniforms, some men have their shirts cut down at extraexpense to smaller waist measuraand others gather the fullness of theshirt to the sides and pin it or tuck it under their belts in order toobtain a snug nt and neat appearance for their shirts across the waistportion of the front of the shirt,

It is an object f this invention to provide anv improved constructionfor obtaining a better body` fit and neater appearance of ready-madeshirts, particularly mens shirts, or similar garments. The inventionincludes fastening means locatedat the waist region for adjusting thefullness to limited locations at the back and sides of the garment, to aconstruction for limiting the fullness in the waist portion of a shirtwithout creating uncomfortable lumps under the beltof the wearer,

Another feature of the invention relates to a combination of fasteningmeans, and fabric elements to which the fastening means are attached,for obtaining adjustments of the waist measure of a shirt withadvantageous distribution of the stresses, resulting in maximumstrengthand resistance to ripping or tearing of the garment. The preferredembodiment of the invention is so proportioned that the fastening meansand fabric elements for gathering the fullness at the waist portion ofthe shirt are slightly below the belt line of the average wearer. Thisprevents the gathering elements from showing and improves the appearanceof the shirt, particularly at the back.

It is another object of the invention to provide a shirt constructionthat has an adjustable` waist that can be made without an excessiveincrease in the number of manufacturing operations required in theconstruction of the shirt. f

The term shirt as used in this specification and in the claims is usedin a broad sense to designate blouses, waists, and other garments in theOne feature of the invention relates nature of a shirt for wearby bothmen and women. Y

Other objects, features and advantages of the" pointed out as the'specication proceeds.

invention will` v appear or be In the drawing, in which like referencecharacters indicate corresponding parts in all the views: Y

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly broken away, of a shirt havingadjusting means embodying this invention. f

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view across a part of theshirt, at thelevel of the section line 22, but showing the fullness of the shirt atthe left hand side of Figure 1 gathered and conned between the tabs.

Figure 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view showing the tabs,waist band and fasteningv meansof the shirt shown inthe other figures.

Figure 1 shows the invention applied to a mans shirt thathas'conventional side seams I0, and that has a waist band H extendingacross the back of the waist portion of the shirt between the side seamsI0; The purpose of the waist band H is to impart additional strength tothe material and the waist band is attached to the material of the shirtby a line of stitching i2 along both the upper and lower edges of thewaist band. The ends of the waist band ll extend into the side seams I0.n

On the outside of the shirt there is a tab l5. On `the inside of theshirt there is another tab i6'. Each of these tabs is attached to theshirt by having one end of the tab extend into the side seam l0 so thatit is attached to the shirt by the stitching I1 of the side seam I il.Tins construction reduces the number of operations necessary inmanufacturing the shirt as compared with a construction in which thetabs I5 and I6 would be connected to the material of the shirt by aseparate stitching operation. It is a feature of the invention that thetabs l5 and I6 are connected to the shirt along the side seam so thatthey pull against a portion of the shirt that is reinforced by the extrathickness of material along the seam, but the invention can be appliedto shirts by attaching the tabs I 5 and l S at some other location'which is provided with suiiicient reinforcement.

There are fastening means for connecting the unattached or free ends ofthe tabs laandll Pam-onwato the waist band I I atllocations which arespaced along the waist band at such distance from the 2 l ,f of thewaist portion of the shirt are gathered between the tabs I5 and I6, asshown in Figure 2, when the free end of the tabs are connected kto thewaist band. i

vIn the preferred embodiment of the invention these fastening meansVcomprise snap fasteners, such as commonly used on gloves, mensundershorts, etc. The fasteners 20 along the waist band I I preferablycomprise double snap-socket elements which extend through the materialof the shirt and through the waist Vband I Land have one socket openingtoward the inside of the shirt andthe other socket opening toward theoutside of the shirt. Complementary snap fastener elements 2| areconnected tolthefreeor ItY isv the snap fasteners in the waist bandbecause theV sockets are flatter than the complementary ball elements 2|and therefore make the back of the garment more comfortable. l

The fastening devices 20 and 2| are merely representative of fasteningmeans forconnecting the ends of the tabs with the waist band at spacedregions along the'waist band. Constructions in which fastening devicesare connected with the tabs and extend through holes in the waist bandat the same locations as the double sockets 20 may be used in placev ofthe specific fasteners shown.

Both of the tabs I5 and IB should be of the same effective length, theexpression effective length being used to designate the distance fromthe fastening device 2| to the line along which the tab isconnected withthe shirt. The inside tab I6 is of generally triangular shape and isYconnected with the side seam I0 along the base portion of the triangle.The fastening device 2| is located adjacent the apex of the triangle.

Since this invention gathers the fullness of the shirt into a regionunder the belt of the wearer, the inside tab Itl must be of suilicientarea to prevent the gathered material from pressing against the' weareras anuncomfortable lump. The greatest thickness and concentration ofgathered material is between the top and bottom edges of the outside tabI5. Beyond these edges of the outside tab the gathered material spreadsoutV both upwardly and downwardly, .By having the inside tab i6 ofsufficient vertical dimension so that it extends both above and belowthe outside tab l5, the pressure against the wearers body issufficiently distributed so that the gathered fullness between the tabsis not uncomfortable even though it is under a comparatively tight belt.Experience has shown that the height of the inside tab |6 should be atleast two inches and preferably of the order of four inches. For themost advantageous distribution of pull on the inside tab, the effectivelength 0fl this tab should be at least half as great as the width of theatmeans for localzing the fullness in the waistpor tion of theshirt,fsaid means comprising a waist.

band secured to the material of the shirt across the back of said shirt,a tab attached at one end to the outside of the shirt at a locationalong the length of the waistband, another tab attached at itscorresponding end to the inside of the shirt along the waistband atsubstantially the same location as the outside tab, and fastening meansfor holding the free ends of both tabs at any selected one of severalfixed locations along the length'ofA the waist band, said xedlocationsbeing spaced from the Aattached ends of the tabs by distances along thewaistshirt is gathered between the tabs when their vfree ends arefastened at any one of said fixed locations.

2. A shirt-like garment having a waist portion, and including a tab ofgenerally triangular form with its base extending in an up-and-downdirection and attached to the inside ofthe garment, and fastening meansfor connecting the apex end of the tab with the waist portion of thegarment at a region spaced from the attached end of the tab by adistance, across thematerial of the garment, greater than the effectivelength of said tab so that fullness of the garment is localized behindthe tab, said tab being correlated with the gathered fullness, toprevent said fullness from being felt as an uncomfortable lump againstthe wearers body, the tab extending both above and below the regionwhere the material i is most closely gathered and the up-and-down lengthof the attached end of the tab being in excessof two inches and thelength Vof the tab transverse of ,itsl attached end being at least asgreat as one half of the up-and-down length of the attached end.

3. A shirt including two tabs of equal enective length and attached toopposite sides of the material of the shirt along substantially the sameverticalV line at the waist portion of the shirt, and fastening meansopposite each other for connect ing the unattached ends of the tabs tothe waist portion of the shirt at various locations at distances fromthe attached ends of the tabs, said distances, when measured along thematerial of the shirt being greaterthan the effective length of thetabs.

4. A shirt having a waist portion and including a tab attached totheoutside of the waist portion along a vertically extending seam, anotherta'bvof generally triangular cross section attachedalong the base of thetriangle to the inside of the shirt along substantially the same lineYas the outside tab, and fastening means for connecting the unattachedends of the tabs to the waist portion of the shirt at a location on theback of the shirt that gathers fullness of the waist p ortion betweenthe tabs, the vertical dimension ofthe Ainner tab being sufficient tocover thegathered material for some distance above and below the outsidetab. v

5. A shirt including a waistband, a tab attached at one end to theinside ofl the Shirt at a location along the line of the waistband,another tab attached at its corresponding end to the outside of theshirt at substantially the same location as the inside tab, andglove-type fastening means for securing theunattached ends of the tab tothe .waistbandjsaid fastening means oomprising an element connected tothe waistband andv having snap socketsjon both theinside andoutsideoflthe shirt, and acomplementary ball element connected to eachof the tabs for insertion into one of said snap sockets.

6.. A shirt having a Waist portion and side seams, and including a bandattached to the Waist portion across the back of the shirt between theside seams, a tab connected at one end to the outside of the shirt alongone of the side seams, another tab of generally triangular shapeconnected along the base of the triangle to the inside of the shirtalong the same portion of the side seam as the outside tab, a number offastener elements in the Waist band of the shirt at locations spacedalong the waist band at dis tances from the side seam greater than theeffective lengths of the tabs, each of said fastener elements comprisingthe snap socket portion of a glove-type snap fastener and having socketsopening to both the inside and outside of the shirt, a fastener elementat the unattached end of the outside tab, a similar fastener element atthe corresponding end of the inside tab, the fastener elements on saidtabs being equally spaced from the side seam of the shirt and eachcomprising the ball end of a snap fastener, and similar tabs andfastener elements on the back of the shirt and associated with the sideseam on the other side of the shirt, the triangular inside tabs at bothsides of the shirt being wide enough to cover gathered material betweenthe tabs for a substantial distance above and below the outside tabs.

HERBERT L. SEEGAL.

